Thursday, 25 December 2025

Snowman Gnome

Happy Christmas!
Not a card today, but a sweet crocheted Christmas gnome!

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Thursday, 11 December 2025

Santa Belly

I've made this fat santa belly card from bright red card with some splashes of white, black and gold.  It was quite quick to make, and I love the fun design.
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Sunday, 30 November 2025

Birthday Gnome

Today's card is for one of my lovely As You Like It Challenge teamies.  My gnome image is watercoloured on Ecoline Watercolour Card with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers. I've framed him with some pretty papers and added a personalised typed sentiment.



Card Recipe:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx

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Thursday, 27 November 2025

Chimney Santa

I love using glitter on cards, especially to create the effect of snow. I love the sparkle and much prefer it to gold or silver card (which is also difficult to photograph).  I've used glitter card to create the snow layers on this die cut card. It's a tent fold, so does actually stand upright and is a fun shaped card for Christmas.




Card Recipe:
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Thursday, 13 November 2025

Daisy Tilda

I've not used my Tilda stamps for a while and inked this sweet flower girl for a birthday card.  I really enjoy using these images when I make the effort to ink a rubber stamp rather than take the digi option, and I'm really pleased how she turned out.

I've framed her with my favourite embellishments, flowers and ribbon.  I love that they can bring out  accent colours from the image, and are soft but create texture. They can be a little bulky for mailing, but I love the 3D effect.  You can share your favourite embellishments with us this week at As You Like It Challenge.






Designed for:



Card Recipe:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx

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Thursday, 30 October 2025

Flower Bunny

I love a lot of cute and furry critters, but bunnies are one of my all time favourites.  I used to have a pet bunny when I was younger, and love to see them hopping around in the wild. I've used a bunny with daisy image for my card today which reminds me of Spring when the days are starting to get longer and warmer!



Designed for:
As You Like It Challenge

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Thursday, 16 October 2025

Lilac Heffalump

Ribbon is one of my favourite embellishments, and I have boxes of it in dozens of colours and shades.  My favourite is satin, but today I've used a gingham one which tones better with my card colours. I love the 3D effect on a card which makes it look more handcrafted when it's gifted.




Designed for:
As You Like It Challenge

Card Recipe:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx


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Sunday, 12 October 2025

Birthday Bear

Today's card is for my Mother-in-Law's birthday. As usual, watercoloured on Ecoline Watercolour Card with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers. I've added a personalised sentiement to make it a little more special.


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Thursday, 9 October 2025

Flower Umbrella Bear

I've made this beary-sweet card for one of my As You Like It Challenge teamies.  I've watercoloured him on Ecoline Watercolour Card with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers.  I've inked around him by creating a mask and added a personalised typed sentiment.



Card Recipe:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx

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Thursday, 2 October 2025

Pirate Bear

Square cards are my favourite standard shape cardbase. I caveat that by saying I still love a fancy shaped card, like an apron shape for a food related image, or snowflake shaped cards for Christmas, but for my go-to cards, it's always a 6" square. Maybe it's the symmetry of them, but there's plenty of space for an image, pretty papers, and some fancy bits.  Today's card is for my Brother-in-Law, so I've kept the fancy bits limited to some fonts with a personalised typed sentiment.



Designed for:
As You Like It Challenge


Card Recipe:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx

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Thursday, 18 September 2025

Flower Gnome

This week at As You Like It Challenge we're asking you to share your favourite die.  This is an easy one for me, because I absolutely love my circle dies, of which I have a few with different stitching designs. But my most used is this simple single stitch design by MFT.  I love the variation of using a circle die on a square card, and the stitching is a lovely textured effect.  What did we do before these stitched edge dies became popular!



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As You Like It Challenge

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Thursday, 4 September 2025

Autumn Badger

I really like making layered card with 3D elements, my favourites being flowers and ribbons. Many of my cards feature images framed with paper flowers and a double bow (a bowmaker is fabulous for this).  It does make mailing more bulky, but I love the effect of making it look more crafted than store-bought.




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As You Like It Challenge
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Thursday, 21 August 2025

Bunny Birthday

We're asking for your favourite colouring medium at As You Like It Challenge this fortnight.  I've been trying my hand at colouring pencils recently (more art drawings than cards) but my favourite go-to medium for cardmaking has been Ranger Distress Reinkers, which I use as watercolouring inks with a dinky brush.  Watercolouring feels like relaxing therapy!  I've watercoloured this sweet bunny image by Emma Punktchen on a clean and simple card.




Designed for:
As You Like It Challenge


Card Recipe:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx

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Thursday, 7 August 2025

Flower Mouse

We're asking for your favourite season at As You Like It Challenge this week, and although I love Christmas crafting, I'm not a fan of winter and cold weather, so my favourite season is the summer with the long sunny days and warm weather.





Designed for:
As You Like It Challenge


Card Recipe:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx

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Sunday, 27 July 2025

Teddy Birthday

I've made this card for one of my lovely teamies at As You Like It Challenge.  I really love this little bear and I've used him a couple of times this year because I love the image so much. I've kept the design layout simple, but added a personalised sentiment to make it a little more special.






Card Recipe:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx

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Saturday, 26 July 2025

Under the Sea

I made this card for my bestie's birthday earlier this month.  It took quite a bit of inking, and by the end of it my fingertips were blue!  I don't think I've used this stamp before, so it was lovely to use something new and I really enjoyed the green and blue theme.  The sentiment is spot on too!





Card Recipe:
  • Under the Sea by CC Designs
  • Distress Ink pads (for blending)
Happy crafting
Annette
xx

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Thursday, 24 July 2025

Kitty Cats

This week at As You Like It Challenge we're wondering whether you're a cat or dog person.  It's no question for me, as I've always had cats, currently two 2-year olds who are extremely efficient at keeping me on my toes.  One's a baby angel and her brother is, well, let's just tactfully say he's 'a handful'!  One moment he's rocketting around the house stripping the silicone out of our window frames, and the next moment he's demanding snuggles and is the sweetest cuddlepants possible.  It's a good thing I'm a cat person, because he's landed on his furry paws with us!


Designed for:
As You Like It Challenge
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Thursday, 10 July 2025

Bunny Tag

I really like making oversized tags which make gifting presents even more fun.  I enjoy wrapping and making the present look pretty with my tag tied on with ribbons and bows.



Designed for:
As You Like It Challenge

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Thursday, 26 June 2025

Pinks and Blues (with a touch of purple)

This week at As You Like It Challenge we want to know what your favourite 2 colour combos are.  For me, I prefer soft pastel pink and blue, but I also like purple, so I admit there's a touch of purple in my card too!  These are my go-to colours, and feel prettier than bold colours, although I have surprised myself and used a few bold citrus colours this year for summer vibes!  Anyway, today I'm focused on my pinks and blues (with a touch of purple!, but what's wrong with an extra colour beween friends!).  The gnome image stamp is from Lee Holland (Esty). I've watercoloured my image using Distress Ink Reinkers on Ecoline Watercolour card and added a typed sentiment in some fancy fonts.



Designed for:
As You Like It Challenge


Happy crafting
Annette
xx

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Thursday, 12 June 2025

Bear-ter late than never

This fortnight at As You Like It Challenge we want to know if you like adding sentiments to your cards or keeping them blank, maybe so the recipient can keep them on display longer as a piece of art.  Many of my cards don't have sentiments on them, but I do actually like making my own sentiments, usually mixing different fonts, which is what I've done for today's card which I'm a little late sharing!  However, it demonstrates 2 pretty fonts which I've overlapped slightly to make the words look like they fit together better.




Designed for:
As You Like It Challenge

Water-coloured on Ecoline Watercolour Card with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers:
  • Fur: Antique Linen, Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo, Gathered Twigs, Tea Dye, Tattered Rose
  • Grass: Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss
  • Sky: Tumbled Glass
  • Purples: Milled Lavender, Dusty Concord, Wilted Violet, Villainous Potion
Card Recipe:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx

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Thursday, 29 May 2025

Embossed Lamb

This week at As You Like It Challenge we want to see your favourite style of embossing, whether it be wet or dry, folder or stylus etc.  While I love the effect of wet embossing, I find it a bit messy to do it myself, and I love the impact of some of my lovely embossing folders. I think they give a wonderful texture to cards, and I love the intricate design of some of my favourite folders. My card today features some embossed daisies which give a 3D texture frame to my watercoloured lamb panel.



Designed for:
As You Like It Challenge

Water-coloured on Ecoline Watercolour Card with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers:
  • Lamb: Antique Linen, Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo, Gathered Twigs, Tea Dye, Tattered Rose
  • Grass: Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss
  • Sky: Tumbled Glass
Card Recipe:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx

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Wednesday, 21 May 2025

Kingfisher

My husband likes kingfishers, so I've watercoloured this sweet anniversary card for him using this image.




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Thursday, 15 May 2025

Spring Fox

This week at As You Like It Challenge we want to see your favourite sketch / layout. This was an easy one for me, because I revisit this particular layout very often. I like the ability to showcase 2 pretty papers (often from my favourite paper designer, Nitwit Collections) with the join covered by some pretty satin ribbon.  I frame a circular image panel with flowers and a double bow in opposite diagonals and a trio of flat backed pearls in the opposite corners. It enables me to use my favourite embellishments (flowers, ribbons and pearls) in a 3D card.




Designed for:
As You Like It Challenge

Water-coloured on Ecoline Watercolour Card with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers:
  • Fur: Antique Linen, Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo, Gathered Twigs, Tea Dye, Tattered Rose
  • Grass: Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss
  • 'Whites': Hickory Smoke
Card Recipe:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx

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Thursday, 1 May 2025

Flower Bunny

Today's card is a springtime bunny, using a digi from one of my favourite artists, Lee Holland.  As usual he's watercoloured using Distress Reinkers.  I've used some pastel Springtime tones which I much prefer to bold bright colours as they feel warmer and softer. 




Designed for:
As You Like It Challenge


Water-coloured on Ecoline Watercolour Card with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers:
  • Fur: Antique Linen, Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo, Gathered Twigs, Tea Dye, Tattered Rose
  • Grass: Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss
  • Sky: Tumbled Glass
  • Yellows: Scattered Straw, Mustard Seed, Rusty Hinge
Card Recipe:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx

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Sunday, 27 April 2025

Easter Chickie

I know Easter has gone, but I forgot to post this sweet chickie Easter card so better late than never!





Card Recipe:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx

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Sunday, 20 April 2025

Easter Egg Galore

Happy Easter Everyone






Card Recipe:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx

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Thursday, 17 April 2025

50th Birthday Boy

This fortnight's challenge at As You Like It Challenge is to decide whether you prefer clean & simple, or fussy & fancy in your crafting.  I do tend to swap between styles, with some of my more feminine cards being festooned with flowers, ribbons, pearls etc, but I also find it satisfying when a beautifully coloured image takes the centre stage.  Today's fuss-free creation is a special birthday card for someone who's been a good friend during the past 30 years.  He's recently discovered the joys of dog-walking, albeit his sister's dog, but this image felt right when I was picking one for his card.



Designed for:
As You Like It Challenge

Water-coloured on Ecoline Watercolour Card with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers:
  • Fur/Hair: Antique Linen, Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo, Gathered Twigs
  • Skin: Tattered Rose, Tea Dye, Worn Lipstick
  • Grass: Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss
  • Fence: Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap, Walnut Stain
  • Sky: Tumbled Glass
  • Blues: Stormy Sky, Faded Jeans, Chipped Sapphire
  • Wall: Hickory Smoke, Black Soot

Card Recipe:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx

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Wednesday, 16 April 2025

Easter Bunny

I'm hopping towards the long Easter Bank Holiday weekend with this little fella!




Water-coloured on Ecoline Watercolour Card with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers:
  • Fur: Antique Linen, Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo, Gathered Twigs, Tea Dye, Tattered Rose
  • Grass: Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss
  • Sky: Tumbled Glass
  • Purples: Milled Lavender, Wilted Violet, Dusty Concord
  • Pinks: Spun Sugar, Picked Raspberry, Kitsch Flamingo
Card Recipe:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx

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Sunday, 13 April 2025

Easter Egg Trees

I can't remember using this sweet Easter image before, but I decided to have a play with it and enjoyed it so much I've made a couple of clean & simple Easter cards in different colour combinations.






Water-coloured on Ecoline Watercolour Card with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers:
  • Bunny: Antique Linen, Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo, Tea Dye, Tattered Rose
  • Chick: Scattered Straw, Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed
  • Pot: Antique Linen, Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo, Gathered Twigs
  • Grass: Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss
  • Eggs: Various!
Card Recipe:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx

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Thursday, 3 April 2025

Cute Squirrel

This fortnight at As You Like It Challenge we want to know if you prefer florals or cute themes.  I'm definitely a fan of the cute cards, particularly cute animals, both in my crafting and in real life.  The only florals I tend to use are on my papers and embellishments to create colour and texture.  Some of my favourite critters are the images by Lee Holland Digis, in particular his woodland creatures.  I cut the floral cardbase shape using my Silhouette.



Designed for:
As You Like It Challenge

Water-coloured on Ecoline Watercolour Card with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers:
  • Fur: Antique Linen, Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo, Gathered Twigs, Tea Dye, Tattered Rose
  • Grass: Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss
  • Sky: Tumbled Glass
  • Flower: Milled Lavender, Dusty Concord, Squeezed Lemonade
Card Recipe:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx

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Thursday, 20 March 2025

Happy Mouse Day

At As You Like It Challenge this week we want to see your favourite fancy folds.  I love this easel card prop because I can decorate it to co-ordinate with the card and it all still folds flat for posting, almost like a pop-up card.  This card is for a sweet crafting friend's special birthday last month, so it's safe to share! I used bright springtime colours for the happy occasion!


Designed for:
As You Like It Challenge

Card Recipe:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx


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Thursday, 6 March 2025

Mousie Tea Time

This week at As You Like It Challenge we want to know if you prefer monochrome or colourful creations.  I do like to stick to just a couple of colours in my cards, but I can never seem to restrict myself to just one by using different shades and depth for variety.  I prefer to co-ordinate a few colours through into embellishments or, in this case, pulling a the dark purple from the image through into the cardstock matting layer.


Designed for:
As You Like It Challenge

Water-coloured on Ecoline Watercolour Card with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers:
  • Mouse: Hickory Smoke, Black Soot, Tea Dye, Tattered Rose, Ground Espresso
  • Sky: Tumbled Glass
  • Green Cup: Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss
  • Purple cup: Milled Lavender, Dusty Concord, Villainous Potion
  • Orange cup: Scattered Straw, Squeezed Lemonade, Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge
Card Recipe:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx

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Thursday, 20 February 2025

Teddy with Woolly Balls

This week at As You Like It Challenge we want to know if you prefer crafting feminine or masculine themed projects. For me, I find masculine cards challenging (I like adding flowers and pretty papers too much!) so for me it's an easy choice of feminine.  I've teamed this cute watercoloured teddy bear with pretty springtime papers for a craft loving friend.  I love these papers, and I've matched the colour scheme throughout the embellishments.



Designed for:
As You Like It Challenge
Lee Holland

Water-coloured on Ecoline Watercolour Card with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers:
  • Fur: Antique Linen, Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo, Gathered Twigs, Tattered Rose, Tea Dye
  • Sky: Tumbled Glass
  • Greens: Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss
  • Blues: Stormy Sky, Faded Jeans, Chipped Sapphire
  • Purples: Milled Lavender, Dusty Concord, Villainous Potion
  • Oranges: Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge
  • Pinks: Spun Sugar, Kitsch Flamingo
Card Recipe:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx

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Thursday, 6 February 2025

Light the Candles

At As You Like It Challenge this week want to know if you prefer stamped or digi images.  I have far more digi images than I do rubber stamps, and I certainly appreciate the convenience of them when it comes to storage, ease of browsing my collection and instant purchasing!  But there is still something more satisfying about getting truely inky and stamping your own image.  I've had problems in the past with printer ink bleeding when I'm watercolouring digi images, and times when my printer's not been playing ball, whereas my physical ink pads seem to last forever although sometimes you don't get a full image (I have better luck if I use my stamp platform).  And finally, the brands that gave me the papercrafting bug were physical stamps (some on wooden blocks!) so it's often nice to dig out those stamps again.  Therefore, I've selected a rubber stamp from my collection for today's card.  However, I expect my laziness will kick back in and I'll revert back to digis again next week!



Designed for:
As You Like It Challenge
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